Mt. View still abuzz after mountain lion captured

Mountain View is still buzzing after a cougar caused a standoff and evacuations at an apartment complex.

That mountain lion is now back in the wild after it caused quite a commotion while roaming the streets of Mountain View Tuesday night. People were told to stay indoors for hours until it was finally captured.

This certainly created some excitement in the neighborhood. The mountain lion came into the residential area, surrounded by apartment buildings, and ended up trapped inside a parking garage.

"I thought they were chasing a person," said resident Jose Sanchez. "But when they were over there I heard a lot of people talking about mountain lion."

Mountain View police say the first sighting of this mountain lion came in around 6:30 p.m. near Rengstorff Park.

The big cat was finally cornered in the parking garage next to the Casa del Ray apartments and shot with a tranquilizer just after 11 p.m.

"He didn't get shot and try to run or anything," said Mountain View Police Department Sgt. Saul Jaeger. "He just basically laid down and went to sleep. And, again afterwards, he was very calm, basically he was out at that point when they actually put him back in the cage."

The animal was wearing a tracking collar put on by the mountain lion conservation group, Bay Area Puma Project.

They say the mountain lion is a male and was released in the mid-Peninsula area where he came from originally.

They wouldn't say what path he took to Mountain View, but it doesn't mean the lion is sick or unhealthy.

In the end, no injuries to pets or people were reported, making it a night to remember.

"It's Mountain View, so nothing really happens over here," said resident Missy Hart. "So I was kind of surprised. I mean, I guess it was okay. Nobody got hurt. You know it was kind of entertaining."

This caused a stir on social media as well. #MVPuma was a trending topic. And the mountain lion even has his own Twitter page.